Playing with my money is like playing with my emotions

As if making the decision to go back to school after being out for 5 years wasn't hard enough, there are a bajillion factors making it even worse for me. Lazy sucky team members, creepy professor, etc. etc.

What I really want to rant about is the financial aid office of my university. I went to undergrad here and had to get student loans through all of it. I don't remember having such a hard time with this. I mean, everyone keeps saying to me, "are you surprised? they're awful" but I swear that I remember this part of my college career as being easy. I applied for a loan and then they paid the school. No problems. None.

Well, I had to get a student loan for the Fall 2007 semester. My company has a tuition reimbursement program but it generally doesn't reimburse you until AFTER you've completed and passed the course. I didn't have $3k upfront so I took out a loan. Easy peasy, right? WRONG.

So here are all the events that took place surrounding my getting a loan and the pain in the ass my university's financial aid office has been in a nice list format:

1. I applied for financial aid and received notification that I was eligible for $10k.

2. I neglected to fill out all necessary documentation with my university so the aid was delayed.

3. I charged my Fall tuition on my credit card to avoid the ridiculous late payment.

4. I realized that I had to notify the financial aid office that I only needed $3k and NOT the $10k I was eligible to receive.

5. I called the financial aid office and they told me to come in and fill out a loan exemption form.

6. I filled out the form. I cancelled the Spring financial aid and tried to reduce the fall aid. I was told that the Fall aid had already gone into effect and that a check would be coming my way.

7. I received a check from the State department for $10k.

8. I called the loan company and asked what I was to do. They told me to cash it and send THEM (the loan company) a personal check for the unneeded funds.

9. I have a balance with my university for $7k.

10. I called student billing to ask, "WTF?!" They transferred me to financial aid (the bane of my existence).

11. I spoke with a counselor who, aside from being a wee bit condescending, told me that when the Loan company sent their payment to my university only to see a $0 balance, I should not have gotten a refund check. Huh??! My university, after receiving the attempted payment, issued a REFUND CHECK TO THE LOAN COMPANY AND THEN BILLED ME. Where is the logic in that? I was apparently supposed to intuitively know that the refund check from my loan company should have been cashed AND GIVEN TO MY UNIVERSITY. That is not stated ANYWHERE.

YYAARRGG!

12. The counselor told me to call my loan company, speak to someone with authority (?!) and tell them I need my money back. yeah, okay.

13. I called the loan company and the phone rep was nice as pie. She sweetly told me that this wasn't a problem but that in order for their company to reissue the funds back to the university, the university would have to recertify the loan.

14. I called a left a voicemail message with the counselor yesterday and followed it with an e-mail. I still haven't heard an f'n thing.

$7k! They say I owe them $7k! Aaah! Who has $7k lying around? I can't register for Spring classes until this is taken care of. I HAVE to register for SOMETHING for Spring or I will be dropped from the graduate program. Seriously - why me?

There are some other details mixed into this ordeal that just make me want to pull my hair out but I'm now angrily typing this so I figured I'd leave them out before I break this keyboard.

Yarg.